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Seven Features to Look for in Your PIM Software | Salsify

Using product information management (PIM) software is essential in the more complex business times we live in. Otherwise known as a personal information manager, using a PIM solution can often become customized when working through the right source. What kind of tools would you need in your PIM if have an expert team available to design one? Here are the seven of the most common features of a PIM system.

1. Ease of Data Importation

Importing data is one of the most important aspects to PIMs, especially when you're using multiple devices, operating systems, and tools to store data.

No doubt you've had trouble importing content from one place to another without experiencing technical snags. If you're going to get help designing PIM software, make sure you're able to make it easy to import data into one convenient location.

For years, you've no doubt had to look in multiple databases just to find specific content for a project. When needing to provide info from spreadsheet to customers, this is going to cut down on wait times considerably. You'll retain customers who don't want to wait to find specific data they need from your records.

2. The Ability to View Data By Channel

When you're on the go, you want to have the ability to view all content posted on various channels without having to look in separate places. It's essential to have one database to consult on your mobile device so you see how well your data looks on those channels.

Even more important is the ability to see what the requirements are on each of those channels so you can adjust content accordingly. Optimizing for the consumer experience can otherwise become impossible without being able to see everything together.

Basically, you'll have an omniscient digital view of data through a working search engine. If you're working with a designer on PIM software, don't forget to include this feature.

3. Bulk Editing Capabilities

A lot of data you're using in multiple places is impossible to edit without having it all compiled in one location. The best PIM software allows bulk editing capabilities so you can edit everything cumulatively.

Imagine how much time this is going to save you and your marketing team. Using a feature like this also helps you keep more consistency in branding or themes. If you've gone through a rebranding phase recently, you'll need to edit data on other channels to keep everything aligned.

Without this tool, you'll have to visit all those channels individually. This is impossible in most cases, leaving some inconsistent content on various sites. For e-commerce, you'll absolutely need a feature like this for your product catalog.

4. Channel Readiness

Preparing your data for all your proposed channels isn't easy either when you have data stored in multiple databases. Digital asset management features in your PIM take care of this for you.

Some of the data you may need to change includes digital images, videos, user manuals, or buying guides. The right PIM software lets you access all of these in the platform so you can get them ready for their intended purposes.

In some cases, this might mean having to transform them into something different from their original intended use. Again, integrated editing tools come in handy here. You may need to ready your data for resizing, cropping, renaming, or image rotating.

For images, you should be able to do this in bulk when pressed for time.

5. Creating and Managing Categories

Managing data on products you're offering through e-commerce can become overwhelming without using PIM software designed with organization in mind.

Being able to create and manage categories should become top of mind so you more efficiently store your data in places where it's easy to find and edit.

By storing your data all in one place and categorizing it by the channels where you'll post also helps you organize things for the rest of your staff. Considering your marketing team may post some content, they need to know where it goes and how to manage it.

Organizing products is equally important for an online store. You may have to post data about your products in multiple locations to increase your customer base. It's time to use PIM software making this easy to prepare.

6. Content Analytics

Using analytics in everything is a hot topic right now. It's no different in using a PIM. What you really need is analytics helping you take action quickly.

Quality PIM software gives you analytics that are easy to read and compiled through machine learning. The latter works in real-time so you see what's going on and take immediate action to correct a problem.

For monitoring how well your products perform online, this brings some great benefits. Now you can see how well certain products are being represented and which ones need attention now. Easy-to-read analytics show you exactly what actions you need to take.

7. Managing Governance on a Global Scale

As your company starts to expand across the world, you'll need to keep up with governance to avoid violation fines. Being able to adjust your data in one place to make this happen is what makes your PIM such a valuable tool.

The best way to approach this is to add a feature enabling you to manage global governance locally. By giving local control over how to optimize content, it gives your marketing team in other countries a faster way to manage content for marketing.

Maintaining consistency in the legal side of your content saves you from dealing with expensive fines or possible litigation later.